Stir Occasionally Over Heat
by DiscipleOfSaya
Summary: Kyouko finds herself over at Yui's house once again begging for food. Yui turns this upset into a cooking lesson filled with fun.
1. The Empresses Gambit

Yui adjusted her legs for what seemed like the hundredth time. Sitting in front of the television, grinding out levels in Namori Quest 2 was beginning to take its toll. The sun was beginning to set and dark clouds continued to collide and coalesce over her apartment building. Yui's stomach began to shake and contract, accompanied by the faint growl of hunger. The raven-haired girl glanced down at her controller, thinking the mild upset was, at first, an extension of her gaming experience.

"I should make dinner soon." She said to herself, navigating the game's save screen with speed and precision, as she had done thousands of times before. With one fluid motion the console was shut down and placed neatly away. Yui prided herself on her organization skills; "A place for everything, and everything in its place", was a common motto she held close to her heart.

Yui arose from her sitting position and slowly shook the fatigue out of her legs.

"I should try and use the remaining vegetables I have before they go bad." She counted the contents of her fridge in her head, and began matching it with possible recipes she knew off the top of her head.

"It would be best to keep it simple, maybe a stew of some kind." It was the end of the month. Yui was running short on both groceries and money. Next months check from her elders wouldn't arrive for another five days, in the best case scenario.

Before Yui could open her stove storage and remove a pot, the resounding chime of her doorbell filled her ears. Her eyes slowly panned from her stove to the door. No one had contacted her, nor was she expecting company. As she approached the door and prepared to turn on the peep hole viewer, she stopped mid-motion. She knew who it was. With no prior knowledge of the upcoming encounter. Yui could feel the energy radiating behind her door. Only one hot-headed blonde could emit that kind of power from behind 2 inches of door. Yui gave a light sigh before flicking on the small digital display.

Maroon ribbons, followed by a giant blue eye, a huge grin, and various other body parts flooded the screen. Yui didn't turn on the microphone, but she could hear her friend anyway.

"Hey! Yui! It's me Kyouko! Open up!"

Yui flicked on her door's microphone, "Mountain."

Kyouko stopped her fidgeting. She stepped back from the camera, placing one hand on her hip and another on her chin. "You're quite the mastermind, coming up with a riddle for me to solve."

"_You're the one who made it up..."_ Yui thought to herself.

Kyouko stood up straight with a triumphant look. "Plateau!"

"Wrong." Yui said coldly.

Kyouko retained her proud stance. "Summit!"

"Try again."

"Peak?"

Yui's face began to brandish a small sadists grin. As much as she enjoyed watching her friend untangle the mystery of Yui Mountain, she was also running out of time to cook. "Where do you go fishing?" She presented Kyouko with an easier riddle.

"A lake!" Kyouko chimed in, a big smile grew on her face. Nailed it.

Yui cracked her front door and poked her head out. "Close enough. Come in."

"Yui, I'm hungry, so feed me!" Kyouko continued to rant about her hunger, wasting no time making herself at home in Yui's living room.

"You say that like no one feeds you at your house." Yui retorted, prepping her kitchen utensils.

"Yeah, but I'm here, not there. That's why you should feed me." Kyouko's backwards logic was a fairly common occurrence.

"Look, Kyouko, I'm really short on ingredients right now-"

"That's fine, I'll just have Rum Raisin." Kyouko interrupted as she entered the kitchen and threw her head into Yui's freezer. She slowly closed the freezer door and turned to Yui with a horrified expression on her face. "Yui... There's no Rum Raisin in here..."

"I know. You ate it all the last time you were over, and I haven't had money to buy any more."

Kyouko slowly shambled over to Yui, still standing still over her unused cooking utensils. Kyouko took her softly by the shoulders.

"Yui... Why is the Rum Raisin gone?" Kyouko's eyes were starting to mildly tear up at the thought of not being able to have her frosty sugar fix. Yui, sporting a completely stone faced expression, turned to fill her pot with water to boil.

Kyouko's mourning over the lack of Rum Raisin continued till Yui's water came to a rolling boil.

"So what are you making?" Kyouko shook off her depression with a simple flick of the wrist.

"Stew. All I have left is vegetables, most of which go bad soon, so I have to use them."

"Neat. Can I play Namori Quest?" Kyouko began her stride back into the living room, but was stopped short by Yui gently tugging on her shirt collar.

"If you want to eat my food, the least you can do is help prepare it."

"Eeeh?" Kyouko's neck went limp. The mere thought of manual labor, even in its most mild forms, drove her to an almost crippling state of lethargy. "But I'm no good at cooking. I'm only good at eating. I'm actually really good at eating. It's like, one of my primary talents."

"I'm not sure you can classify eating as a talent." Yui retorted.

"What about Takeru Kobayashi? He's really good at eating. He doesn't even get fat!"

"I think that is an entirely different subject altogether."

After a couple of minutes of convincing, and a bit of bribery with promises of future Rum Raisin spoils, Kyouko found herself overlooking a myriad of aprons in one of Yui's kitchen drawers. A sea of color spread out before her: standard colors to various animal prints. Pandas, cats with assorted toys, even one with Namori Quest characters on it, obviously well loved.

"You...you have so many." Kyouko's eyes darted around the wardrobe for the hundredth time before reverting back to Yui, who was oddly enough sporting her usual plain blue apron. "Do you even wear any of the other ones?"

Yui's face revealed a tiny blush. "Sometimes, mostly when no one else is around."

"So I can choose any one of these?" Kyouko said holding up a purple and white apron in tandem.

"Well, yes." Yui said prepping the vegetables for cutting. After a couple of seconds of the sound of fabric rubbing on fabric, Yui turned around to find Kyouko with both aprons on. One in front and one in back. "...Why?" was the only thing Yui could muster out of her mouth at the sight.

"Mirakurun colors!" Kyouko said with a slightly awkward smile.

Instead of chastising Kyouko for fooling around, Yui took the purple apron from around Kyouko's neck and folded it in half before stuffing it into the center pocket of the white apron.

"There. Now you actually look somewhat like her. Complete with purple skirt."

Kyouko's eyes lit up. She ran into the living room to check out her poorly crafted cosplay in the full-body mirror.

"Yui! You're the best!" Kyouko proceeded to stand at attention and salute Yui. "Toshino Kyouko, standing by! Ready to tackle any kind of mission in the name of love and justice, Empress Yui!"

Yui was only slightly taken aback by the new title she had earned, in addition to her friends newly acquired admiration for her makeshift seamstress skills.

Yui figured it would be best for both of them if she played along. "Very good Duchess Kyouko, let's get this done so we can proceed to mock the commonwealth." Yui and Kyouko proceeded to march into the kitchen with their newly found energy, laughing like tyrants.

"Wait..." Kyouko's march came to a slow and steady halt. "Why do I suddenly feel like a villain?"

Yui slowly turned around to face her puzzled friend. The bright gleam of steel sparkled and glistened from Yui's hand. A knife. A big, shiny, sharp, knife.

"Come Duchess Kyouko, it's time to put our kingdoms inhabitants in their place." Yui rose the knife to her face and felt the cool steel against her cheek. Her eyes glowed under the pale flame of the stove top burners. "It is high time you learned to rule your people as well."

Kyouko was hiding behind the doorway, peaking inside the kitchen, before Yui was done with her tyrannical facade.

"Yui, you're scary sometimes." Kyouko was shaking slightly.

Yui reverted back to her old stone-faced self in an unsettling instant. "In all seriousness, can you help me cut these vegetables? The water is going to boil soon."


	2. Monkey See, Monkey Do

Yui began to prepare the last of the potatoes. An activity she found very calming and almost zen like. With fluid, calculated movements, she had used up the remaining bag of potatoes in what seemed like no time at all. In their place, a mound of chalk-white rocks awaiting their untimely demise into the belly of the cook pot. A quick glance over at Kyouko's cutting board, however, yielded less than acceptable results. Carrots cut into lopsided half-inch cubic squares. Celery sliced all the way down the length of the stock. As Yui was surveying the damage, she barely noticed Kyouko about to tackle a group of scallions with all the precision and accuracy of 1600s naval artillery and with just as much unnecessary power.

"This pitiful onion-spawn shall fall before my mighty blade!" Kyouko raised her kitchen knife high into the air but was stopped short by Yui taking hold of her wrist.

"Oi. Can you at least cut them normally so I don't have to worry about you hurting yourself?" Yui requested, gently lowering Kyouko's wrist.

Kyouko began to giggle slightly, "You know I'm just having fun." A big smile grew on her face.

"I just don't want you getting yourself hurt. We can have fun after we get everything done."

Kyouko began to sport a determined face. "It is as you wish, Empress Yui!" Kyouko shook around her hips in attempt to twirl her Mirakurun clad apron-skirt in excitement.

Kyouko eased off the throttle, but, her approach to food preparation was just as sloppy as before. No form, no grace, no respect for the blade or its victims. Yui oversaw Kyouko's methods before proceeding to critique her style. With every closing stroke of the blade Yui winced in pain. Years of cooking expertise, knowledge she rather prided herself on, was being desecrated before her very eyes, in her own home no less.

"You don't cook often, do you?" Yui said with a pain induced smile.

"I've never done this. I'm just trying to mimic what I see on TV." Kyouko responded, her eyes never straying from her cutting board.

_'What television shows is she watching, exactly? They certainly aren't cooking shows.' _Yui's train of thought drifted off into a multitude of unrelated thought processes before returning to reality.

Kyouko was reaching the end of the first set of scallions. As she approached the root, her strokes became slower and messier as the wet ingredients began to slide apart and slip out of Kyouko's hands. Each cut became more and more dangerous as the blade moved closer and closer to Kyouko's fingers. Unfazed, the fire-eyed teen began to poke her tongue out in concentration.

Yui intervened for the second time, her eyes filled with fear, and face as white as a ghost.

"What's wrong Yui, you look like you just saw something horrifying!" Kyouko put down her knife, returning a brief calm to Yui's mind, along with some color to her face.

"Why don't you let me show you a safer way to cut." Yui rested her hands on Kyouko's shoulders, inadvertently along with the rest of her fear for her friends safety.

Kyouko wore her usual clueless grin, "That might be for the best. You are the master, after all."

The word 'master' brought a faint grin to Yui's face.

"I wouldn't say that. But I am more than willing to share my knowledge if you will allow."

Yui decided on a fairly basic cutting technique to teach Kyouko: The 'Claw' grip. With an even more basic method of instruction: 'Monkey see, monkey do.'

Yui took one of her potatoes and handed it to Kyouko before taking one for herself. They stood parallel to one another as Yui began her lesson.

"Do as I do." Yui said with conviction.

"Do as I do." Kyouko responded.

Yui's head hung in the air for a brief moment, trying to find humor in the joke Kyouko attempted to make.

"Shape your hand into a claw like this, with your finger tips bent inward..." Yui spoke as she demonstrated the basic form. "...Then you lightly press the blade against your knuckles. This way you can use them as a guide for where you want the blade to go, without the risk of cutting your fingers." Yui looked over at Kyouko who was in deep concentration trying to work her hand into the right shape. Kyouko would shape her hand, place it on her potato, and affix her blade, before attempting the entire process over again. This process repeated several times. For the next few moments, the kitchen was filled only with the sounds of boiling water and flesh rubbing against starch.

_'I haven't seen her concentrate this hard on something in a while. Not since that Mirakurun doujin was a week away from the deadline. I don't give Kyouko enough credit, she tries hard when she wants to.' _Yui's thoughts brought a smile to her face as she drifted further and further from reality staring into Kyouko's golden hair. Yui was suddenly met with a pair of bright, turquoise eyes.

"Yui." Kyouko set down her knife.

The sudden change of air took Yui by surprise, she snapped back to reality as if being shaken out of a day-dream.

"Yes?" Yui responded, her eyes taking a moment to refocus on the situation at hand.

Kyouko's eyes showed a look of both grief and frustration.

"I...need your help." Kyouko kept making claw motions in the air while occasionally glancing back at her pristine potato. "I can't get everything to line up correctly, and my hand keeps slipping when I try to move my fingers." Kyouko looked briefly at her hands. "I don't get it. I'm usually really good with my hands."

"Show me what you've been trying, so I can figure out what's wrong." Yui abandoned her cutting board in exchange for a better view over Kyouko's shoulder.

Kyouko fumbled around with her potato two or three times before getting her hand in the proper claw position. Concentrating so hard on her form, Kyouko almost grabbed the blade of the knife instead of the handle. Yui corrected her actions with a subtle downward nudge of Kyouko's hand.

_'This is very strange.' _Yui began thinking to herself. _'She seems...so nervous.' _A quick glance at Kyouko's face revealed the visage of an unshaken, determined warrior. However, Kyouko's movements displayed otherwise. Kyouko's hands were beginning to develop a mild shake, the kind a diabetic would display. _'I have to do something...' _Yui continued to watch her friend fumble the blade before deciding on a course of action.

_'Lead by example.' _


	3. Roaring boils and Flickering Flames

Yui pondered her opening; how was she going to approach the situation at hand? Kyouko's fidgeting continued to rapidly bounce the edge of her blade up and down, hopping from one edge of the potato to the other, failing to find a suitable resting place. Yui gently placed her left hand on Kyouko's shoulder, as if to avoid startling her friend.

"Here, let me help you." Yui gently muttered under her breath.

Yui's offer for help was met with the sound of a dropped blade. Kyouko had set down her kitchen knife in rejection to Yui's offer with an unexpected clatter of stainless steel on the counter top. Kyouko turned her head just far enough to refuse eye contact with her friend, but still allow her to be heard clearly. Head low, chin to her chest, she pouted.

"You're always helping me... Please, let me do this on my own. If not for you, then for me." Kyouko issued her ultimatum.

"It's just cutting a potato..." Yui continued to press her assistance on Kyouko.

Kyouko whirled around in frustration, her soft blonde hair whipping across Yui's chest.

"But it's something I can do for you! I can help you in this way, even if it's just cutting a potato." Kyouko voice shook with a hoarse intensity.

Yui was taken aback. The sudden outburst from her usually cheerful friend was somewhat shocking. Kyouko stood there with her head hung down next to her chest. Yui slowly brought her hand to Kyouko's cheek to reassure her friend. Yui lightly brushed back Kyouko's hair to reach her face. Her hand was met with moisture. At that moment, Yui caught a glimpse of something she had rarely witnessed. Something she had seen few times before, and always dreaded seeing again.

Tears. Few in number, but there was no mistaking it. Kyouko's cheeks were swollen and red from trying fruitlessly to contain her emotions. The occasional clear drop would trickle down her face and branch off into smaller streams of salt water before collecting at the bottom of her face. For the next few moments the air in the room felt thick and heavy. Steam from the pot of boiling water found its way to Yui's forehead. Yui, the usual calm, composed upperclassman was at a loss for words. Seconds seemed to extend far beyond that of what the cosmos had originally intended. No single word could be uttered between the two girls to make everything right at that moment. It was a rare melody of emotion that had to be played out by the two of them. Tears serving as the tempo, soft cries as the melody, and fate's gentle waving hand as the conductor.

Few things could get Toshino Kyouko down. She was renowned for her loud mouth, and resolve of steel. Her bright, contagious smile got her out of trouble just as easily as it could get her into it. She was the first to speak up on any topic, first to come up with a plan of action, and first to take the steps to carry it out. She was a true leader in every sense of the word. People all around her were influenced by her charm, and aura of cheer. It was what fellow classmates and friends came to expect from she energetic young blonde. Yui, however, as her best friend, sometimes saw her at her worst. Tears from Kyouko was not shocking to Yui, but rather, unexpected. It made her feel uneasy, confused, and desperate to remedy the situation.

Kyouko's tears slowly increased in number with every blink of her eyes. Her gaze slowly grew closer and closer to the ground. Half in pain, half in shame, she wanted nothing more than to just run out the door and come back with a smile on after her episode wore off. There was no escape, not because of minor physical barriers like a door, but the emotional barriers proved much stronger and more daunting. Running away simply wasn't an option for someone like Toshino Kyouko. She dealt with the here and now, no matter how painful it proved to be. The present moment is where all the power dwells within her.

"I... I just-" Kyouko stumbled over her words. Each syllable seemed to fall out of her mouth onto the ground. Every malformed word and muttered phrase flopping around on the ground in front of her like a fish out of water. "I just wanted to do something," The occasional sniffing attack plagued Kyouko's statements. "wanted to do something nice for you." Kyouko wiped a side of her face with the purple part of her apron. "You always... help me, and do nice things for me, but I never feel like I return the favor. There has to be something I can do to repay your kindness!"

Kyouko felt the slight pressure of a human hand on the back of her head. Her body not automatically making adjustments for balance, she fell forward into Yui's arms, her tear stained chin coming to rest on Yui's shoulder. The weight of all her karmic debt came falling with her. Kyouko's legs buckled beneath what seemed like her entire world crashing down on top of her. She continued her plight, worried she wouldn't get another chance to properly express her feelings.

"You always help me with my homework even when it's already late. You always make sure I have something to eat, even if it's unhealthy for me, like Rum Raisin, because you know I like it. You always walk with me to the club room even though I take forever to pack up my stuff after class. You al-" Kyouko's incoherent rambling was cut short by Yui forcefully lowering Kyouko's face into her neck and shoulder. Kyouko proceeded to cry harder and louder than before, the occasional "I'm sorry." falling out of her mouth.

Yui was at a complete loss for words. It had never occurred to her that those kinds of mundane tasks had such an impact on her friend. Kyouko had been keeping track of everything. Things Yui had just let pass her by. The only thing she could really comprehend clearly was the feeling of Kyouko's soft blonde hair running through her fingers and how the upswing of her locks carried the faint smell of vanilla. Why had she never thought of these things? All of her wasted hours spent on Kyouko's dilemmas seemed to have no place in her mind, as if they never mattered. Surely it had to be stuffed somewhere in the back of her mind, considering the immense impact it had on her friend. It wasn't because she was indifferent to Kyouko's shortcomings, or wanton desires. The answer was emotionally crippled, laying collapsed in her very arms. Yui knew what she wanted to say, but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

_'Just tell her you love her.' _Yui bit her lip.

Kyouko's emotions were beginning to transfer to Yui. Yui could feel tears well up inside of her. She knew if she lost control, it was all over. The evening of self-discovery and intrigue would turn into a messy crying fit over uncut potatoes. Ultimately, Yui was more than contented standing there comforting her sobbing friend. In a twisted sort of way, she wanted to savor the moment for as long as she could. Yui saw the scene she was in from a different angle than most might. She was the only one capable of seeing Kyouko in her entirety. In the visage of a tear stained broken young woman who cared so deeply for her friend, Kyouko had become complete to Yui. Kyouko's tears completed the puzzle of Yui's feelings for her. This was Yui's chance, and she planned to take it. Out of her mentality, came the words she was looking for:

"Kyouko... I think I know of a way you can repay me." Yui gently rested her head against Kyouko's.

Kyouko's crying had slowed to a dull series of whimpers. She managed a response in the form of a glimpse into Yui's seemingly celestial expression. Kyouko's clouded crystal-blue eyes spoke leagues above anything that poured out of her mouth that night.

Yui took up her friend, still heavy with regret, and pulled her seemingly limp body in close by the waist.

"It may seem selfish, and out of place for me to demand..." Yui's eyes wandered down Kyouko's tear-laden shirt before returning to the warm sapphire pools she so deeply desired to confess her feelings to. "...But, don't ever regret who you are. Because, I truly love that person, more than you can possibly imagine."

A bright white flash filled the room. Lightning. Followed by the close roar of thunder. The two figures stood motionless in a now black room, the pale glow from the dull cook-top flames in their tear-filled eyes their only remaining visual connection with one another.

As the water on the stove continued to bubble. Yui felt the embrace of her friend slowly wrap around her person. As their bodies contoured to the others shape, Yui felt the warm sensation of lips on her ear.

"The word of The Empress is absolute..." Kyouko's breath on her ear seemed to warm Yui's very soul.

"I love you, Kyouko. Don't ever change." Yui continued to run her fingers through Kyouko's hair, savoring the smell of every disturbed strand.

The two students would remain there in silence for the next couple of minutes. Simply enjoying the others company in the now colorless void of a kitchen; their only company the flickering gas stove light reflecting off of their drying eyes. Every beat of the others heart resonating through their chests; a consistent reminder of the bond they had forged over the years. Every breath between them, a song of relief letting oxygen flow through their bodies, like water to a bed of flowers. The occasional squeeze from the other silently speaking the same words over and over:

_'Just a bit longer... lets stay like this.'_

_**The End.**_

Writers Note: Hello, and thanks for reading Stir Occasionally Over Heat! I really hope you enjoyed the little love story between these two. This is my first attempt at writing romance and I would really appreciate any constructive criticism you would be willing to put forward. Thank you so much for making it this far. I hope you join me on future writing adventures!


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